Casting for the upcoming Children of Blood and Bone is still currently underway, but Nexus Point News has the latest update on one of the faces we could expect to see in live-action Orïsha.
Nexus Point News has exclusively learned that Damson Idris is in talks for the role of Prince Inan in the upcoming Children of Blood and Bone film adaptation. In the book, Prince Inan is a protagonist and antagonist throughout the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy and a love interest for the main character, Zélie, in the first book.
Idris is best known for his role as Franklin Saint in FX’s Snowfall and will next be seen in Joseph Kosinski’s 2025 film F1. Idris also starred in Amazon Prime Video’s Swarm and numerous other films such as Outside The Wire, Farming, The Commuter, and Astral.
The casting for the film was officially announced to be underway in July by author and scriptwriter Tomi Adeyemi on X, sharing that it was an open casting call looking for actors from Hollywood to Nigeria. The InSneider recently reported that South African actress Thuso Mbedu will be reunited with The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bythewood and has landed the lead role of Zélie Adebola in the upcoming film. He also reported that other The Woman King stars, John Boyega, who would likely be playing Zelie's older brother Tzain, and Lashana Lynch, who will likely play Princess Amari based on what he gathered, are being eyed for the film.
Although Nexus Point News can verify that Lynch is being eyed for a role, it is not for Amari, but instead Mama Agba. We can also confirm that Boyega is not being considered for the role of Tzain as another actor is being eyed to play him.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi is a West African-inspired fantasy novel that follows Zélie Adebola, a young girl who embarks on a journey to restore magic to the land of Orïsha, after seeing her mother and people stripped of it by a menacing king at a young age.
A key aspect of the story is the feud between Zélie and Prince Inan, the son of the oppressive king who outlawed magic. While Zélie fights to restore magic and seeks justice for her people, Inan is torn between his loyalty to his father and the kingdom and his growing realization that magic is part of his own identity. This creates an interesting conflict in the first book as the two characters, who stand on opposite ends on their beliefs in the role of magic in Orïsha, become intertwined in ways they do not expect.
The movie adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone was originally acquired by Fox 2000 in 2017, before the book’s release. In February 2019, Rick Famuyiwa (Dope, Brown Sugar) was attached to direct the film. However, once Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, Fox 2000 was shuttered, and the film was transferred to Lucasfilm with Kay Oyegun (This Is Us) attached to write the script. Lucasfilm took too long to develop the film, letting the rights to the film lapse; Paramount Pictures then landed the rights to the film in 2022.
Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Old Guard, The Woman King) is currently set to direct with author Tomi Adeyemi set to pen the script. Nexus Point News has also learned that Children of Blood and Bone will begin shooting early next year from February to June 2025.